The Resene Architecture & Design Film Festival 2023 is underway, running until 25 June in a selection of theatres around the country. This year’s line-up includes an inspiring global collection of immersive cinematic projects. Here’s two not to miss.
Bawa’s Garden
United Kingdom, Sri Lanka
Director: Clara Kraft Isono
Shot on location in Sri Lanka with a small crew on a small budget, Bawa’s Garden follows its protagonist who is scouring the island for the ‘lost’ garden of Lunuganga. Finding the treasure might be the goal, yet her search is the catalyst for encounters with a series of characters and rarely visited buildings that reveal the story of architect Geoffrey Bawa’s life and work. This experimental documentary weaves dreamlike narratives with real-life characters intrinsic to the output of the renowned 20th-century architect. Bawa’s Garden beautifully depicts the eclectic and quietly moving work of Bawa’s buildings and gardens and the collaborators who influenced his oeuvre.
Light Without Sun
Denmark
Directors: Clara Kraft Isono, Marie Ramsing,
Christopher Sejer Fischlein
As late Danish architect Jørn Utzon famously said: “I like to be on the edge of the possible.” Light Without Sun is a documentary about a home he built on the island of Mallorca and named Can Lis, after his wife.
As he once said, “The most fundamental task of an architect is to create and determine a place for the human being to observe the world including the cosmos.” In this captivating film, which is set within one day, the sensory nature of architecture is considered, and interviews, narrative, and choreography are used to challenge how buildings are documented.
Find out more about the 2023 Resene Architecture and Design Film Festival at rialto.co.nz
